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SYNOPSIS:
Can a secret crush . . .
Jo Walsh has loved Cameron Mitchell for as long as she can remember. Whether front and center in her life or on the periphery, the tall, brooding artist has made his presence seductively and irresistibly known. But whenever they start to get close, Cam pulls away. Jo's tired of keeping her feelings in a box Cam is afraid to open. If he wants her, he'll have to prove it. And if he doesn't, Jo will need to know the real reason why . . .
. . . become the love of a lifetime?
How do you walk away from your soul mate? Cam wishes he knew. No matter how far he runs from Jo, he can't resist looking back at the silver eyes that seem to see right through him. But as well as Jo thinks she understands Cam, the dark truth about his past is something she shouldn't have to handle. Cam's sure that setting Jo free is the right thing to do. Too bad his heart has other ideas . . .
Jo Walsh has loved Cameron Mitchell for as long as she can remember. Whether front and center in her life or on the periphery, the tall, brooding artist has made his presence seductively and irresistibly known. But whenever they start to get close, Cam pulls away. Jo's tired of keeping her feelings in a box Cam is afraid to open. If he wants her, he'll have to prove it. And if he doesn't, Jo will need to know the real reason why . . .
. . . become the love of a lifetime?
How do you walk away from your soul mate? Cam wishes he knew. No matter how far he runs from Jo, he can't resist looking back at the silver eyes that seem to see right through him. But as well as Jo thinks she understands Cam, the dark truth about his past is something she shouldn't have to handle. Cam's sure that setting Jo free is the right thing to do. Too bad his heart has other ideas . . .
MY REVIEW
5 STARS
Kennedy
Ryan has done it again. With the first two books of this series, she
has effortlessly ruined me by unleashing every human emotion I am
capable of feeling. She scarred but she healed, she wrecked but she
built, she made me cry but she made me so happy, she broke my heart but
she glued it together, she gave me pain but she also gave me
happily-ever-afters.
From the very moment I met Cameron Mitchell on WYAM and LYA, he had my heart. I’ve waited so long for his story and when I finally had it in my hands (aka my Kindle), I wanted to relish that moment with him. And my, the story effortlessly took me out of the world—again.
I think one of Kennedy Ryan's powers as a writer is the ability to draw readers in the story and make them part of the characters’ lives. I read the story with such familiarity with Jo, Cam, Walsh, and Kerris as if I was part of the family and knew exactly what they meant when they shared private jokes and said stuffs with double meanings. Her characters are so alive, real, and they definitely know how to mark themselves in a reader’s mind.
She knew how to demolish him.
I loved Jo's strength as a heroine. She was sure, composed, honest, frank, and the epitome of courage. But behind that facade is a soft, loving woman whose dream was to be loved back by the man she’s loved for seventeen years. That was Jo’s strength—her capability to give unconditional love. Something broken, pained, and damaged Cam needed in his life.
Cam had a special talent for ruining beautiful things. Like the dark, beautiful images he painted on the sides of condemned buildings, destined for the wrecking ball. He was the wrecking ball.
Cam was a man of the present trapped in his dark and painful past. That darkness was holding him back from the light that he saw in Jo’s existence. He was haunted by the memory of a man who molested him when he was ten and the brutal flashbacks caused him to exhibit bad behaviours, at one time, even holding a gun to Jo’s head. Reading about it felt like I experienced it and there were times when I had to close my eyes and steady my breathing because the pain was slashing brutally in my chest. It was that affective.
“I should know these things.”
“I don’t know every detail of your life. No one does.”
“These are not details, Cam. These are essentials. I want your essentials.”
Together, they sparked a flame of love, passion, and longing that existed for so long but has never been acknowledged. They were two very different people from two very different worlds, but they filled each other’s void like no other person in the world can. I loved how they knew each other so much that they finish each other’s sentences. I loved how deep they knew each other, sharing unspoken truths that no one shared except the two of them. I loved how Jo had no fear of Cam, taunting him for the truth even after Cam built his walls so strongly. I loved how she was willing to do everything to climb up those walls just to be with him, and how Cam tried to break his own walls just to be with her.
All her emotions—hurt and hope, fear and disappointment—lay trapped beneath a thick layer of ice. Drowning.
When I started reading, I prepared myself for an emotional wreck I will go through. Kennedy Ryan did that to me on the first two books and I'm sure she won't take mercy on this third one but God, I was already sobbing like a baby at 16% of the story. 16%! That’s not even a close to half of the book. But she didn’t stop there. I was also sobbing at 27% and then when I reach 50%, I declared myself emotionally wrecked. Kennedy Ryan knows pain and how it could consume a person. She knew feelings too, because she could awaken them, play with them, even. She will make you feel and she will make it last.
What was so great about light? Light exposed. It hurt your eyes. It showed your flaws. And your scars.
The story tackled the issue of PTSD on Cam’s traumatic childhood. I've read stories of characters like Cam in other romance novels. I've cried for them and rose through the pain with them. But this book brought me deeper. It dared to go deeper. Into Cam's thoughts, into his pain, his strength, and his past. Up until reading this book, I realized other books tackled the surface of the effect of such trauma to a person. This one right here took you to the experience itself. Mixed with the writer's amazing prowess, you will experience with Cam, feel Cam's pain and fight with Cam. This story did not romanticize with the sheer purpose of pleasing readers. It spoke of truth--brutal, honest, but free. It allowed the characters to tell their story, placing readers in a situation that won’t just let them read, it will let them experience.
From the very moment I met Cameron Mitchell on WYAM and LYA, he had my heart. I’ve waited so long for his story and when I finally had it in my hands (aka my Kindle), I wanted to relish that moment with him. And my, the story effortlessly took me out of the world—again.
I think one of Kennedy Ryan's powers as a writer is the ability to draw readers in the story and make them part of the characters’ lives. I read the story with such familiarity with Jo, Cam, Walsh, and Kerris as if I was part of the family and knew exactly what they meant when they shared private jokes and said stuffs with double meanings. Her characters are so alive, real, and they definitely know how to mark themselves in a reader’s mind.
She knew how to demolish him.
I loved Jo's strength as a heroine. She was sure, composed, honest, frank, and the epitome of courage. But behind that facade is a soft, loving woman whose dream was to be loved back by the man she’s loved for seventeen years. That was Jo’s strength—her capability to give unconditional love. Something broken, pained, and damaged Cam needed in his life.
Cam had a special talent for ruining beautiful things. Like the dark, beautiful images he painted on the sides of condemned buildings, destined for the wrecking ball. He was the wrecking ball.
Cam was a man of the present trapped in his dark and painful past. That darkness was holding him back from the light that he saw in Jo’s existence. He was haunted by the memory of a man who molested him when he was ten and the brutal flashbacks caused him to exhibit bad behaviours, at one time, even holding a gun to Jo’s head. Reading about it felt like I experienced it and there were times when I had to close my eyes and steady my breathing because the pain was slashing brutally in my chest. It was that affective.
“I should know these things.”
“I don’t know every detail of your life. No one does.”
“These are not details, Cam. These are essentials. I want your essentials.”
Together, they sparked a flame of love, passion, and longing that existed for so long but has never been acknowledged. They were two very different people from two very different worlds, but they filled each other’s void like no other person in the world can. I loved how they knew each other so much that they finish each other’s sentences. I loved how deep they knew each other, sharing unspoken truths that no one shared except the two of them. I loved how Jo had no fear of Cam, taunting him for the truth even after Cam built his walls so strongly. I loved how she was willing to do everything to climb up those walls just to be with him, and how Cam tried to break his own walls just to be with her.
All her emotions—hurt and hope, fear and disappointment—lay trapped beneath a thick layer of ice. Drowning.
When I started reading, I prepared myself for an emotional wreck I will go through. Kennedy Ryan did that to me on the first two books and I'm sure she won't take mercy on this third one but God, I was already sobbing like a baby at 16% of the story. 16%! That’s not even a close to half of the book. But she didn’t stop there. I was also sobbing at 27% and then when I reach 50%, I declared myself emotionally wrecked. Kennedy Ryan knows pain and how it could consume a person. She knew feelings too, because she could awaken them, play with them, even. She will make you feel and she will make it last.
What was so great about light? Light exposed. It hurt your eyes. It showed your flaws. And your scars.
The story tackled the issue of PTSD on Cam’s traumatic childhood. I've read stories of characters like Cam in other romance novels. I've cried for them and rose through the pain with them. But this book brought me deeper. It dared to go deeper. Into Cam's thoughts, into his pain, his strength, and his past. Up until reading this book, I realized other books tackled the surface of the effect of such trauma to a person. This one right here took you to the experience itself. Mixed with the writer's amazing prowess, you will experience with Cam, feel Cam's pain and fight with Cam. This story did not romanticize with the sheer purpose of pleasing readers. It spoke of truth--brutal, honest, but free. It allowed the characters to tell their story, placing readers in a situation that won’t just let them read, it will let them experience.
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